Four Corners of the Earth II: Clans and Kraang
by entity9silvergen
Summary: With the four turtle brothers reunited once more, the Hamato Clan has been restored but the mutants aren't ready to relax. The remains of the Foot are rising up once again and strange aliens have appeared in New York. How will the new Hamtos handle facing figures from their pasts? How will the turtles combat the Kraang's interest in them? [Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT]
1. Recap

**Author's Note:** This AN is being written 5/16/19, the day the story is being published. I have not worked on this story since 11/20/18. The prequel has been on hiatus as of 12/31/18 and I am in the process of rewriting/ doing severe editing of the original story. The first 10 and a half chapters of this story were written over seven months ago. The rest of the story is currently on hiatus but the 10 written chapters will be irregularly uploaded until they are all up and eventually I will write the remaining ones.

Anyway, this first chapter is a recap of the first story and the time passed between the two. The chapter is written in Mikey's perspective but the recap is told from Donnie's perspective.

* * *

New York

Present Day

Anyone who has been to New York City knows it's a beautiful place. Known for its skyscrapers and bustle, it was a great place to visit though the natives didn't share their appreciation. They all loved it despite the fact they'd never do anything but complain about it.

But back to the beauty of it. It was night, the sky dark. The moon was full and its light rained down on the urban roads and buildings. There was some pollution clogging up the air but from a distance, it too added to the view. Alongside the tips of the highest structures, it gave New York this certain feel no other place had.

Far from this beautiful night, though not that far at all, there was another beautiful sight however it was a different kind of beauty. One that not anyone could see. Far below the parallel streets of New York, the sewer lines match their complexity and organization but like any other place, the sewers were disgusting.

One would wonder how something amazing as New York's surface could lie in this swampish region but deep into the sewers, there was a haven from the grotesqueness of it all. This haven was known to its inhabitants as the Lair.

The Lair had been nearly empty for the good part of the past ten years and now it was anything but empty. The occupant who had been there previously was gone, reduced to ashes in a box beside a small shrine, but the newcomers were animated on this fine night.

In the common room, a tiger sat at a table with the two mutants who he'd consider his adopted children if they hadn't been brought together out of survival. The blue-masked turtle and the human girl in shiny new armor were listening to the tiger's words with interest. He was teaching them an ancient Chinese game he'd learned long ago. The three shared Japanese heritage but since they'd met in China, the tiger felt it was important that they learn about Chinese culture now that they had access to the material things of the modern world. Living in a forest, they never had the pieces to the game but to their delight, they found them in the lair and the three of them were engrossed into it.

On the opposite side of the common room, a rhinoceros was telling a story about his life in Russia. A huge turtle in a black mask was soaking up every detail like a sponge while a chimpanzee muttered about exaggerations. Nearby, an alligator and a red haired girl were doing the same but the story was about America rather than Russia. A good story nonetheless.

Above in the dojo, a red-masked turtle could be seen wrestling with a human boy dressed in black. They were rolling around and growling with effort to come out on top but it was clear the mutant was still being careful not to injure the human. At the other end of the dojo, a fish with metal legs was showing a warthog a spinning kick. The fish laughed loudly as the warthog executed the move with a flair that gave the attack a bit more oomph but looked hilarious.

The lair was lively after so many years of tranquility and in the middle of all the liveliness stood a turtle in an orange mask. At his side was a gecko wearing saggy pants. The turtle ran around the lair and up to each group every few minutes, pestering them, before running off to pester another. The gecko trailed behind him with the same excitement but not the same volume.

"Mikey, can't you calm down for just a minute?" Leo asked, looking up from the round of mahjong.

"Nope," Mikey said with a happy grin.

Raph and Casey momentarily stopped their tumbling. Raph got up and looked out from the dojo. "I bet I could make you sit still."

"No, you could not," Leatherhead rumbled as April took a break from her story. "Believe me, I have tried many times. I found it was best just to embrace his excitement."

"That sounds horrible."

"It was. That was why I retreated to an oasis while Michelangelo, Bebop, and Mondo Gecko raced around the Outback on their jeep," Leatherhead responded.

"Man, I miss that jeep," Mikey said. Mondo nodded silently. He hadn't been saying much lately but his eyes suddenly brightened.

"Can we bring the jeep to the lair?" he asked, his voice breaking mid sentence.

"No," came the reply.

"You're no fun," Mondo grumbled.

"I'm clan leader. If I say you can't do something, it's because it's ridiculous not because I'm no fun," Leo told him. "Otherwise I'd be really excited about having a car. I don't think I've ever seen one before."

"We saw one on our way to the Shredder's lair," Karai reminded him.

"Oh that's right."

"A car would be nice," April commented. "Maybe Donnie'll build one in his spare time if he can get the parts."

"Hey, where is Donnie anyway?" Casey asked. The group looked around and saw that neither Donnie nor Rahzar were present.

"I know! I'll go look for them!" Mikey shouted after a moment and raced off into another room with Mondo close behind. The rest of the mutants and humans gave huge sighs of relief now that they could have some peace.

* * *

Mikey and Mondo wandered through the lair. First, they checked the garage. When they first arrived, Donnie had talked about turning it into a lab but they soon realized that it was the only room big enough to be a suitable sleeping area for the largest mutants so that idea was abandoned. Donnie and Rahzar weren't there.

The two knew better than to check the dojo. Raph, Casey, Fishface, and Bebop were in there right now and they knew that their clanmates weren't in the room behind the dojo that Leo and Tiger Claw currently shared.

They peeked into the old storage room where Rockwell slept and keep his research. Donnie and Rahzar weren't there either. They checked the room that had once been a guest room of sorts. Bebop and Fishface shared that room and there was nothing there but a couple of cots and a stack of CDs.

That just left the bedrooms. There were four of them, one for each turtle back when they lived here when they were younger. Mikey knew who slept in each room but he had a hard time remembering which room was which. He knew which one was his and Mondo's but he couldn't remember which one was Donnie's and Rahzar's so he ended up looking into Raph and Casey's and Karai and April's before finding it.

"There you are!" Mikey exclaimed when he opened the door. Rahzar and Donnie were sitting on each of their beds across from each other. Each had a book and pencil in hand. "Whatcha doin'?"

Mikey tried to grab the book from Donnie's hand but he pulled it away. Mondo entered the room and tried the same with Rahzar but the super mutant just held it up out of his reach. After a few seconds the lowered his arm back down. Mondo tried again, Rahzar pretended to try to jerk it away but let Mondo grab it. Mondo smiled gleefully.

"We're journaling," Donnie said. "It's private stuff, you're not supposed to read other people's journals."

"Especially not Donnie's," Rahzar said. "Skip past all the boring parts and it's like a teenage girl's diary in there."

"You've read it?!" Mikey questioned with a look at Rahzar. "Why did he get to read it?"

"Because he's my best friend," Donnie responded.

"But I'm your brother!" Mikey whined. "Can I read it?"

"Fine," Donnie sighed, knowing that Mikey could probably get away with anything, and let Mikey grab it. "Just don't go back to far, just read what I wrote today."

"Yes!" Mikey exclaimed then calmed down. "So what's a journal?"

"It's like a book where humans write about their feelings and what they do," Mondo explained as he leafed through Rahzar's journal. "Jason used to have one but he liked talking to me better so he gave up."

Mikey nodded and flipped open to where there was a bookmark.

"_Dear journal,_ _I haven't written an entry in over four months. I've been busy and I haven't had time to write. I had a dream that changed my life. But before that I was working on-_" Mikey cut off from his reading. "Blah, blah, blah, science stuff, blah. Skip. _Master Splinter, my father, came to my brothers and I in a dream and he summoned us back to New York. Ten years after the Shredder tore our family apart, he finally contacted us."_

Mondo handed Rahzar back his journal, more interested in what Mikey was reading.

"_I've lived in Antarctica for nearly all of our time apart. I'd never tried to leave but with the help of Dr. Rockwell, April, and Rahzar, I was able to build a ship in about three months,_" Mikey continued reading. "Woah dude. You build a boat?"

"A ship," Donnie corrected. "Like a plane, not a boat. I don't think we would've been able to get here by boat."

Mondo scoffed. "We did."

"You got here by boat?" Donnie questioned slowly. "From Australia?"

"That's right," Mikey said.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just hitch a ride on a plane?" Rahzar asked, confused. He tilted his head. His flaccid ears flopped over to one side like a dog's.

Mikey shrugged.

"Have you ever tried getting a mutant alligator onto a plane?" Mondo asked. He finished the sentence with a cough.

"Try not to talk much. You're vocal cords are still recovering from when you strained them," Donnie told him. Mondo opened his mouth to respond then closed it and nodded.

"Anyway. _I'm really glad Rahzar, Rockwell, and April came to New York with me. I don't know what I would've done without them. Though I do wish they hadn't thrown themselves into a fight the second I was reunited with my brothers,_" Mikey continued. He looked up at his brother. "Bro, me too. Me too. _I can't believe I'm back with them after all this time. We haven't talked much but while I was in Antarctica, Raph was in the Andes, Leo was in the Chinese forests, and Mikey was in the Outback! And they weren't alone either. Raph lived with these guys called Slash, Fishface, and Casey. Leo continued his training with a mutant named Tiger Claw and a girl named Karai and he was educated by another mutant called Rocksteady. Mikey had all these crazy adventures with some mutants called Leatherhead, Bebop and Mondo Gecko. But as happy as I was to see my brothers, my joy didn't last long as Master Splinter died soon after we finally found him. He'd suffered a fatal injury and was only keeping himself alive long enough to see us with his spiritual power. I don't remember a lot about being a ninja but that would've been really interesting to study if my father had not died."_

Rahzar flattened his ears to tune out Mikey. He picked up a pencil and continued writing.

"_Master Splinter was killed by the Shredder. Master Splinter told us that the Foot Clan was growing powerful and was ready to launch an attack on New York and that it was up to us and our new companions to stop him,_" Mikey read. "_We spent the next month training. My ninja training came back to me pretty easily despite all the time that has passed. Its like what they say about bikes, once you learn, you cannot forget it. Leo and Raph spent the last ten years improving their fighting skills so there's a pretty good chance they'll be training Mikey and me over the course of the next few months."_

Rahzar growled as he dropped the pencil. His claw split and he flapped his paw around in pain. Like Mondo and many other members of the new Hamato Clan, he had not fully recovered from the fight with the Foot.

"_Some of the others had a hard time training. I don't think April had ever thrown a punch in her life. Thankfully I manage to convince her to manage communications instead of joining the fight. On the other hand, Rahzar seemed like he was born to fight. He's amazing. Rockwell had a little trouble repurposing his telekinesis but it worked out in time for the final fight,_" Mikey read. "_The battle with the Foot was hard. The Shredder actually had his own small army of mutants but they were no match for our clan. The Shredder himself was much harder. He kicked out shells. Leo got a pretty nasty cut on his face and Raph got one along his jaw. Both will probably leave scars but I tried treating everyone's injuries to the best of my ability._"

In the journal, Donnie taped the list he'd made of everyone's injuries. While they were all being treated, he'd put the list on the refrigerator.

"_It's been about two weeks since the Foot's defeat. Leo's friend Tiger Claw is worried that a Pseudo Foot Clan will rise. We're not really focusing on that right now. We've got to situate the lair to fit all of us. Most of us are sharing a room with someone. I don't mind much, I like being roommates with Rahzar but April and Leo's friend Karai are rooming together in Leo's old room which is kind of weird. They're very different people, I hope that April get her own room eventually._" Mikey paused as he skipped over some more parts where Donnie talked about his thoughts on everything that was happening. "_Mikey found extras of our old masks the other day. I don't really want to give up my techno glasses so I pushed them up so I wear them on top of my head, ready to flip down if I need to do a scan or something, while my mask rests in its appropriate place. It's a nice representation of my ninja heritage and my life of science._"

"_My brothers seem to have similar mindsets. When Raph lived in the Andes, he wore a red bandana around his neck. It confused me at first but he told me that it was the remains of something Fishface had held onto during his life as a human. Also it kept bugs off his neck. Mikey lived in the Outback, he had an orange sun sat to keep the sun off of him. Their masks don't really interfere with their other accessories but Leo had some complications,_" Mikey read. He took a deep breath before continuing. "_Tiger Claw had given him a mask too. He didn't want to throw it away so he tied it around his bicep while he wore the mask Splinter had given him on his face like the rest of us._"

"_There are a lot of us living in the lair now, sixteen to be exact. It's a bit crowded and there's a big food shortage. When we were little, getting food was a problem but we're not little anymore and there are so many of us now. Scavenging isn't really going to support all of us anymore so I'm thinking about trying to make some sort of farm,_" Mikey continued. He stopped and looked up from the journal to its owner. "Dude, that'd be really cool."

"Are you done now?" Donnie asked holding out his hand.

"No!" Mikey pulled Donnie's journal against his chest. "There's still so much more!"

"I talk about how I feel about everyone, the fight with the Foot in a bit more detail, the work we've been doing around the lair, and how I treated everyone's injuries, your's in particular. The temperature change from Australia to New York did a number on you," Donnie told him. "Can I have my journal back now?"

Mikey grumbled and handed it back.

"Thank you."

"Mikey," Mondo tapped at Mikey's arm. "We should keep journals! Jason once told me that if you write something down, you'll never forget it. You told me that when we met, you were sad because you kept forgetting. If you journal like Donnie and Rahzar, that won't happen anymore!"

Mikey's face lit up. "That's a great idea! Donnie, Donnie, Donnie, Don, Don, Donie! Can I have a journal?"

"I don't have an spares on me…"

"I do," Rahzar said. He reached over to the lone dresser in the room. He pulled open a drawer that was filled with journals.

"Wow!"

"Those are all filled," Rahzar told Mikey before he could get too excited. "Donnie and I grabbed all of ours when we came here. I'm not sure about April and I don't know if Rockwell kept any. He was the one who told us to so I guess he probably did. Anyway, that one in the back corner should be empty."

Mikey picked up the journal and began looking through it at all the blank pages.

"I only have one and paper might be kinda hard to come by," Rahzar told him. "You and Mondo may want to do some kind of joint journal. Like you write one day, he writes the next day or something."

"That's a great idea!" Mikey exclaimed.

"We could call it the Booyacabunga journal," Mondo said dramatically.

"Thanks Rahzar!" Mikey said. "Come on, Mondo, let's go write our joint journal."

The two raced out of the room. Donnie and Rahzar exchanged a look. Rahzar fiddled with his broken claw.

"That brother of yours has a lot of energy, doesn't he?"

"Yes," Donnie said. "Yes he does."


	2. Reminiscing

New York

Present Day

Leonardo stood in the dojo. Karai stood at his side. The two were running through a complicated kata. Leo closed his eyes and breathed deeply as he slowly moved his arms in perfect unison with Karai. After a moment, two pair of eyes snapped open. The duo leaped into the air and lashed out at invisible foes before landing back on their feet.

A clap sounded. The ninjas looked over and saw Casey and Raph leaning against the doorway.

"Bravo," Raph said with an even tone.

"That was so cool," Casey said with more excitement than his friend. He looked at Raph. "You were a ninja too, right?"

"When I was five," Raph responded. "I haven't done any ninjutsu in years. Xever taught me some martial arts and Slash taught me some wrestling though."

"You should join us," Leo offered. "Get back to your roots."

Raph looked doubtful.

Karai inspected the red masked turtle. "Look at his form, Leo. He fights with strength, he's made of muscle. He's a brawler, a street fighter. He doesn't have the discipline or speed to be a ninja."

"You'd be surprised," Leo said. "Come on Raph. I saw some of your stuff when we were training to fight the Shredder. Just try a kata."

Raph grumbled but walked over to stand beside his brother. Leo closed his eyes and spread his stance. Karai did the same. Raph paused a moment then copied. Leo sped up a bit and threw a few pulled punches. Raph's punches were a bit more forced but he kept up with Leo and Karai. The three pulled their hands inward and shifted onto one leg to give a series of kicks then spun around to stand steadily again.

After stopping, Karai looked impressed. "Okay, I take it back. You could be a ninja."

"Pass," Raph said, waving her off. "It'd be nice to review some of the old techniques but I'm not really cut out for it."

"Can I try?" Casey asked.

"You'd be a terrible ninja," Raph told him bluntly.

"Come on, Raph. Let him try," Leo said. Casey took a place beside the blue masked mutant. Leo began running through a simple kata. Casey kept his eyes on the turtle and copied it. Leo swung his arms and thrust his fists forward. Casey's gaze shifted from the mutant to his own arms and he did the same thing. Leo stared at him a moment then smiled. "You're right Raph, he'd make a terrible ninja."

"What? I did the same thing you did!" Casey protested. Raph and Karai started laughing. Casey glared at them, pretending to be angry though it was clear he wasn't. "Whatever."

"Come on guys," Leo said walking out of the dojo. "We have a lot of work to do today."

"Hold up Leo," Casey said and jogged up to him. "I wanted to ask you something. Y'know, because you're the leader of the clan."

Leo paused a moment, briefly looking confused. He was a born leader but he still wasn't used to the idea of being clan leader. "What is it?"

"So a lot of us are from here in New York," Casey started. "Weird coincidence actually. "April, Mondo, Rockwell, Rahzar, Leatherhead. Even Fishface and Bebop even came here on business a couple times and got some ties. Anyway, I was hoping we could have a day to try and find our families."

Leo, Raph, and Karai exchanged a look.

"You're Hamato Clan now," Karai said sharply. "You cannot divide yourself between civilian life and a life alongside ninjas and mutants."

"I know, I know," Casey said waving his hands defensively. "But I haven't seen my mom or sister in seven years and Fishface kind of killed my dad. I just want to know how their doing. I don't really know about the others but I think they'd like to know too."

"Fishface killed your father?" Leo questioned surprised.

"In self defense," Raph told him. "He didn't mean to do it."

Leo stared at Raph for a moment then at Casey. The Shredder had killed Leo and Raph's father, Master Splinter, and Raph hated the Shredder with all he had. Casey and Raph seemed to love Fishface the same way Leo and Karai loved Rocksteady. Leo couldn't understand why.

"I've lived with mutants for over half my life, I could never go back to living in a normal house or going to school again," Casey went on. "I just want to see how they're doing without me and my dad. It's pretty early in the morning, there aren't a lot of people out so none of us would probably get spotted and we'd all probably get back before it got too late.

Leo just continued to stare at the human boy.

"Please?" Casey begged.

Leo sighed. "Fine."

"Yes!" Casey threw his arms into the air in an expression of victory.

"But you'll have to work late tonight," Leo told him. "Donnie and Rockwell want to knock down a wall in the storage room to expand the lair a bit. I think they want to build a lab."

"April said something about finding a place to park the jet they took to get here," Karai said. "If you see any kind of abandoned warehouse, you should tell someone."

"There aren't just a ton of abandoned warehouses scattered across New York," Casey said.

"I've never been in a city, how should I know?" Karai shrugged.

"Maybe you should go topside too," Leo told her. "You're a human, you deserve to see all the things that you've missed."

"I'm still a mutant, I don't belong among the humans," Karai pointed out. Her eyes changed color to the same as her serpent form. "Besides, you deserve to go up there as much as I do."

"Don't stay down here just for me," Leo said.

"We could probably go out at night," Raph said. "Back in the Andes, there was this small village by the cove that we used to raid every once in awhile. At night, humans can't see much of anything."

"But New York has streetlights," Casey pointed out.

"We can think about this another time," Leo said, ending the conversation. "Everyone should be waking up about now, I should probably tell them before they start working."

* * *

The four walked into the common room where the clan of tired mutants were waiting. Mikey, surprisingly, looked as awake as those who'd been in the dojo despite have just woken up. He held a box of rations and was handing them out.

"No work today," Leo said as he walked into the common room. Everyone looked at him in surprise. "Casey told me a lot of you are from New York and you're wondering how the people you knew are doing. You have the day to go out and try to find them as long as you make sure no humans see you. April, Mondo, Rockwell, Casey, Rahzar, you can go whenever you'd like."

To his surprise, Rockwell scoffed. "Go without me. I have no ties to the human world."

"Don't say that, Rockwell," Rahzar told him. "None of us are apart of that world anymore but that doesn't mean we never were. There has to be someone that you want to see. It's been… twelve years since we got mutated. There has to be-"

"There isn't," Rockwell interrupted. "You are welcome to go but there is more important things for me to do."

Leo's eyes flicked between the two of them. There was something he knew he was missing but he chose to ignore it. "Okay then. Everyone else has the day off too but try to do something productive. Anyone who leaves the lair should keep an eye out for any valuable resources. We don't have a lot here and we're always running low on food. Meeting dismissed."

Leo fell into a more relaxed stance. He didn't mind being leader but he hated the formality of giving orders to everyone.

Casey left his side and ran up to April, Rahzar, and Mondo. The four began speaking excitedly then walked out of the lair into the sewers.

Leo looked to see what everyone else was doing. Donnie and Rockwell were heading off to the storage room that had become a makeshift lab. Karai was heading back to the dojo with Tiger Claw for more training. Mikey wandered off into the kitchen and began taking inventory of everything that they had. Leatherhead watched him intently. The two were planning on going scavenging. Bebop grabbed an old damaged radio and flagged Fishface over to join him. Slash and Rocksteady got into conversation.

Not seeing much else to do, Leo headed towards the dojo. Despite having spent the last month and a half with his brothers and their companions, he still felt more comfortable with the mutants he'd lived with for the past ten years. It seemed everyone else felt the same though Fishface and Bebop seemed to hit it off and Rocksteady liked spending time with Slash.

Leo pushed the door open to the dojo. Inside, Karai and Tiger Claw were sparring. Karai had shifted into her serpentine form and Tiger Claw had set aside his gear.

Leo's gaze fell upon the shrines. He walked up to them, ignoring the fighting going on behind him. Leo went to the first one and picked up the frame resting on it. It was a picture of Hamato Yoshi with his wife Tang Shen and his daughter Miwa. He briefly wondered if Miwa was really dead but he shook the thought away.

Leo moved to the next shrine. It was a shrine to him and his brothers. They'd been so busy for all the time they've been back at the lair that they never had time to do so but now that he did, Leo didn't have the heart to do so. His father had built the shrine to remember them. Part of him felt like those tiny turtles in that picture were truly gone, lost when the Shredder attacked their home.

A sorrow filled his heart when he looked to the third shrine. There was no picture on it yet, just a box containing the ashes of their most recent loss.

Leo suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. Or paw rather. Tiger Claw stood behind him.

"It is a beautiful shrine you and your brothers made," Tiger Claw stated.

"Thanks," Leo sighed. He looked back at the mutant that had almost become a father to him in his time away from home. "I still miss him."

Tiger Claw nodded. "I understand. When I was mutated, my sister and I had to leave our village. I think of my family often and I miss my sister everyday."

Leo nodded. He didn't actually know what happened to Tiger Claw's sister but he knew that if he lost one of his brothers, it would be like losing an arm. He was sure Tiger Claw was much closer with his sister than Leo was with his brothers so he couldn't imagine how he felt.

Karai hung back from the two a bit. She'd never experienced any loss in her life. She felt this wasn't her place. As quietly as she could, she slipped out of the dojo and left her friends to grieve.


	3. Return Home

New York

Present Day

Rahzar held his breath to avoid breathing in the stretch of sewage as he led Casey, Mondo, and April out of their home and towards the nearest manhole cover.

Anxiety fluttered in the super mutant's belly. He could smell the same fear stink as he had radiating from his companions. Out of the four of then, Rahzar had been a mutant the longest. He'd spent the past twelve years wondering how his family was doing without him and after all this time, he could finally see them. Not really, of course, but at least he'd know how they have been doing since his disappearance.

He only wished Rockwell had come with him. Rockwell had been at his side ever since the two were mutated and Rahzar had managed to learn a bit about where he came from. Rahzar expected Rockwell would be excited at the idea of seeing his family again but he had no interest.

But Rahzar wouldn't let that bother him. Not only did he have April at his side, he had two new friends who seemed to share his excitement. He didn't know much about Casey or Mondo but they could barely contain themselves.

Rahzar climbed up the ladder that went up to the manhole cover. His injured claws clasped uncomfortably around the metal rungs. His gaze flicked behind him. He didn't know how injured his friends were. He remembered Donnie treating Mondo alongside Rahzar's own injuries. With a swift motion, Rahzar reached down and pulled the smaller mutant up.

Mondo let out a small yelp as he was lifted off his feet. Rahzar gently swung him over his head and set him down on the surface.

"Thanks, man," Mondo said. Rahzar gave him a small smile and climbed his way up. April was close behind him. He helped her up too when he was on solid ground. Casey waved him off and hoisted himself up.

"We should stick to the shadows," Rahzar said. He took a step then realized no one was following him. Casey, April, and Mondo sood marveling at the sight of the city.

Rahzar gave a small growl of annoyance and grabbed Mondo again and dragged him into an alleyway. When he was released, Mondo immediately tripped and fell on his face. Rahzar heard the sound of sniffing.

"Are you okay?" Rahzar asked, worried. He knew the smaller mutant didn't have the best pain tolerance, did the fall hurt him?

Mondo lifted his head to look at Rahzar. Rahzar was relieved to see that he wasn't crying. Instead, he wore a huge grin. "Dude. Smell this concrete right here."

"What? Ew! No! Why would I do that?"

"You're a dog," Mondo stated. He resumed inhaling the ground. "Australian concrete isn't the same as New York concrete. I missed this! The dirt, the trash, all that dried up gum, the dog pi-"

"You weren't born human, were you?"

"Nope! Leopard gecko, loud and proud," Mondo grinned. Rahzar sighed and palmed his forehead. Mondo looked to the two humans still standing on the street. "Casey!" Mondo screamed. "Come smell this!"

"Don't!" Rahzar called.

"Dude, that's nasty," Casey said as he and April walked over.

"Stop messing around Mondo," April instructed. Mondo sat up and looked up at her. "We said we'd be back soon. We shouldn't waste time."

"I'm not wasting time! I'm familiarizing myself with my surroundings," Mondo said matter of factly.

Rahzar sighed again. "We should split up. Y'know, for safety. Casey, take Mondo with you. Make sure he gets to his place then go find yours. I'll take April to her old house."

"Why do you get to stay with April?" Casey grumbled.

"Because I'm a super mutant who can run across rooftops," Rahzar said with a wolfish smirk. Casey blinked. Rahzar turned to April and lifted her onto his back. "Come on, let's go. Everyone meet back here in two hours."

* * *

Casey grumbled under his breath as he walked down the street with his hood up and hands sunk deep into the pockets of his jeans. Getting Mondo to his own place was a pain. It was hard enough to hide a mutant but Mondo had the worst sense of cooperation.

And Rahzar had gone off with April. Casey was sure there was something going on between them so he didn't care that much but he really wanted to spend time with another human.

Casey's mood began to brighten a bit as the buildings and street corners began to meld into something familiar. A small smile slid onto his face as he began recognizing his former neighbor's houses.

Casey turned a corner and he found himself on a very familiar street. He stopped and stared a moment. Then he caught himself and pulled his hood down.

Casey's gaze drifted to the addresses as he began walking down the street. He paused before a small house at the end of the street. An old feeling filled his chest, one that he hadn't felt in a long time. He was home.

Casey mentally slapped himself. This wasn't home. His home was in the Cove. Well, the Lair now even though the Cove would always have a special place in his heart. That was the place his heart called home, not this dump.

Frustrated, Casey turned to walk away but felt a tug drawing him back. Casey looked at the house with longing eyes. The paint, the garage door, the mailbox, the way the tiles lay unevenly on the roof, it was all so… so…

Suddenly the door opened. A twelve year old girl was standing in the doorway with a plaid backpack. And she was staring at him.

"Hi…" she greeted slowly as if unsure how to react to the boy standing in front of her house.

"Dondé está el baño? [Where is the bathroom?]" Casey blurted. Internally, he deflated and slapped himself again. He'd spent years sneaking around a village that he didn't belong in, he'd grown used to explaining his presence anytime he was caught on instinct. And in the Andes that meant in Spanish.

Casey was a bit relieved that he'd reacted that way. There was no way his sister would know what to do about him and he could just go on his way. Or so he thought.

"Hay no baño cerca de esta calle [There is no bathroom near this street]," she responded. Casey blinked in shock. How did his sister know how to speak Spanish? And why was she talking to a stranger? Things were not working out in his favor. He should've said something in Portuguese. He knew enough of that. "Do you speak English?"

Casey pretended to be confused. "No puedo comprender inglés [I do not understand English]."

"Okay," she said. Casey didn't know how to react. Was okay a word in Spanish? "De dondé eres? [Where are you from?]"

"Soy de… Ecuador [I am from Ecuador]," Casey decided. The Cove was in Ecuador, right?

His sister looked down for a moment. "Yo visité Ecuador cuando yo tenía cinco años [I visited Ecuador when I was five years old]."

Casey immediately felt guilty. That was the trip where he went 'missing'.

"Yo necesito buscar un baño [I need to use the bathroom]," Casey said, wanting to end the conversation.

His sister snapped out of it. "Quieres usar el baño de mi casa? [Do you want to use the bathroom in my house?]"

"No deberías invitar extranjeros a su casa [You shouldn't invite strangers into your house]," Casey told her.

She laughed. "It's not like you're going to do anything."

"Honey, who are you talking to?" a voice called from inside the house. Casey felt a another pang in his chest. It was his mother.

"There's some guy here looking for the bathroom," Casey's sister called back. "Can he use ours?"

"Do you know him?"

"No. That's why I'm asking."

Casey heard footsteps. In a few moments, his mother was standing in the doorway. He was speechless in shock for a moment.

"He looks like a street thug," his mother stated.

"Hola señora [Hello miss]," Casey waved, keeping up his facade. "Es una emergencia. Puedo usar su baño? [This is an emergency. Can I use your bathroom?]"

His mother blinked and looked at her daughter.

"He says he really has to go," she translated.

His mother sighed. "Fine. Hurry on to school though."

"Thanks Mom."

Casey watched his sister run off.

"Well?" Casey's mom tapped her foot expectantly.

"Gracias señora [Thank you miss]," Casey thanked and hurried inside. As he rushed by her, he swiftly snatched something from her pocket and stuffed it into his own without her noticing. He began walking towards the bathroom then remembered to keep up his act. He paused and pretended to look confused. "Dondé está el baño? [Where is the bathroom?]"

His mother sighed and pointed down the hall. Casey thanked her again and rushed in. He locked the door and sat down on the floor succumbing to his stress. When he asked to come, he didn't think he'd actually be talking to his family!

Casey reached up and turned on the sink to a small stream. This had to sound convincing. He dug through his pocket to see what he'd snatched. He silently thanked Fishface for everything he'd taught him. His pickpocketing and bilingual abilities served him well.

Casey stared at what seemed to be a phone. It looked a bit more advanced than the last cell phone he'd seen which made sense. He pressed a button and the screen lit up. He tried looking through it for some pictures but he couldn't guess the password. He sent it down on the ledge of the sink.

In his other hand was a wallet. He took out the bills and shoved them into his back pocket before setting the wallet down beside the phone. He shut off the sink then turned it on again and proceeded to make it seem like he was washing his hands.

When he opened the door, he was once again startled by the sight of his mother.

"Are you finished?" she asked.

"Gracias [Thank you]," Casey said, keeping his act up.

"I'm taking that as a yes. Now please get out of my house," she said pointing to the door. Casey shuffled towards the door. On the way out, he caught a glimpse of some framed pictures. He paused a moment to look at them but his mother began snapping at him and he walked out the front door.

Casey could feel his mother's gaze burning into the back of his neck as he walked down the street. What was her deal? Once he knew he was out of sight, he bolted, desperate to get away from the place.

* * *

April clung onto Rahzar as he leaped across the rooftops. She let out a happy whoop.

"Hey, not in the ear!" Rahzar growled good naturedly. "Enhanced hearing, remember?"

"Sorry," she said sheepishly. "This is so cool! We could never do this at the lab."

"I know right!" Rahzar said happily. "I love this! The smells, the wind in my fur, the leaping, speeding, hearing the sounds-"

"- the skyscrapers, parks, the cars, the lights, the bridges," April interrupted.

Rahzar shot her a strange look. "You really are a city girl, aren't you April?"

"I was born on a farm," she told him. "But I love the city. I missed it."

"Me too," Rahzar agreed.

"Turn here," she ordered.

Rahzar's paws skidded across a rooftop as he veered. "More of a warning next time!"

"Sorry!"

"So where's your place?"

"Just up ahead," she told him. "You can stop now."

Rahzar landed a heavy landing and stopped. He leaned over a roof air conditioning unit and let April down off his back. "Is it this building?"

April shook her head. "No, its across the street. See that window right there? That's the window to my apartment. I'm going to try and see my dad."

Rahzar nodded. "Can you get back fine?"

"Yeah, thanks for the lift," April said. "Is your old house far from here?"

"Yeah, I live upstate," Rahzar said. "I was rich, remember?"

"Right," April said. She put her hand on his boney jaw. "Be careful."

"I will," Rahzar said and leaped off the roof leaving April to watch him bound away.

* * *

Mondo sat in a bush, his eyes fixed on a yellow house that stood out from the rest of the houses on the street. Glancing around, he ditched his clothes. His face momentarily hardened in concentration and within seconds, the mutant was invisible.

Mondo smiled to himself and waltzed right up to the door. He reached to open it when the doorknob suddenly turned. Alarmed, he jumped backwards, away from it, and ended up tripping on his tail.

"Ow," he groaned and held his tail in his hands, rubbing it. He remained invisible.

The door swung open and a man man nearing a semi elderly age stepped out. He was probably in his fifties. He was holding a briefcase in one hand and a pocket watch in the other.

"Hob, wait!" a voice called from inside. A woman of the same age rushed out holding a hat. "You forgot your hat!"

"Thanks dear," Hob said and took the hat from her hands. He smiled as he place it on his head. "Now I'm off to work!"

The woman gave a small smile of amusement as Hob marched comically away from the house. To Mondo's surprise, he didn't walk up to the car like he used to. Instead, he just stopped at the curb and stood there.

The woman didn't seem to think this was unusual. She merely turned back around and walked into the house. Mondo scrambled in after her, barely squeezing through the closing door.

The woman walked off to go do whatever it was she was planning to do that day leaving Mondo standing in the entryway. Mondo, still using his power of invisibility to stay hidden, looked around the house. It looked different. Was this the right house?

Mondo shook his head. Of course it was. Those were Jason's parents, he would recognize them anywhere. It had been eight years, of course the house looked different. Especially since there was no longer a growing human child living here.

Mondo felt a pang of sadness for his former owner and best friend. He hadn't thought about him for a long time until he came back to New York. Now all the old memories were coming back. Mondo wiped his eyes. Surely crying would give him away.

Mondo suddenly heard a hissing sound. Crouched before him was a a brown furred cat with its lip curled back, revealing its sharp teeth, in a snarl.

Mondo glanced around. There was nothing else for it to be growling at. The cat was growling at him.

"Shhh!" Mondo hushed as loud as he dared. He glanced nervously in the direction that the woman had walked off in. "Quiet kitty!"

The cat tilted its head back.

"No! No! Don't!"

The cat opened its maw and began yowling at the top of its lungs.

"Shhh! Bad kitty! Bad kittycat! Bad!"

The cat continued its caterwauling until the woman walked back into the room.

"What is it Boh?" she asked. Boh began hissing in Mondo's direction. The invisible mutant forze with wide eyes and pressed defensively against the wall. The woman shook her head and sighed. "There's nothing there Boh."

The woman bent down and picked up the cat. The cat immediately resisted. It unsheathed its claws and began struggling against the human grip.

"Calm down Boh!" the woman scolded as she fought to keep ahold of the cat. She walked out of the room. Mondo heard a kennel open followed by another angry yowl.

With the cat caged and the human gone, Mondo gave a victorious fist pump and walked deeper into the house. As nice as it was to see this former owner's parents again, he didn't particularly like them nor was he interested in seeing them. He had good memories of Hob but his wife could be kind of hard sometimes. And he didn't like the cat. That wasn't there before.

Mondo slunk through the house until he reached the room he was looking for. Scrawled in crayon across the door was a sign that read "Jason's Room".

Careful to be quiet, Mondo pushed the door open and stepped in. He was hit with the smell of dust. His eyes watered and he nearly started coughing.

Mondo rubbed his eyes again and blinked a few times. He quietly shut the door and dropped his guise of invisibility. He flexed his hands and smiled now that he could see them.

"Much better," he muttered to himself. He looked around the room. Mondo was hit with a wave of nostalgia. His eyes first fell on the small tank that he'd lived in when he was Lars, Jason's pet gecko.

Mondo ran his webbed hand over Jason's bed. A cloud of dust rose. Clearly Jason's parents didn't come in here anymore. Mondo could understand why, he felt like he was going to burst into tears.

Mondo skimmed over a few old books on the bookshelf in the corner but that wasn't what he was looking for. Mondo moved around a few action figures before dropping down on his belly to look under the bed. There it was.

Mondo rose holding Jason's old board. He smiled and flipped it over in his hands but his smile fell and his heart dropped when he saw the washed out blood stain. It almost looked like part of the design but Mondo would always see it was a reminder of Jason's demise. The day his world changed.

Mondo could feel water gathering in his eyes. With a sniff, he wiped it away. Putting the board under one arm, Mondo cracked the window open and crawled out.

He fell out pathetically into the bush where he'd stashed his clothes. Curling up to conceal himself in the bush, he stuffed his shirt into his pants and tied them around his waist. There wasn't enough room to change and he needed to be able to drop his clothes easily in case he ran into trouble. Speaking of that…

"Kraang's scanner scans that which is known as a mutant close to the place known as here."

Mondo peered out of the bush to see Hob getting into a white van. White vans were never good, he remembered Bebop telling him that once.

"Does the one known as Hob know about that which is known as a mutant close to the place known as here?"

"No, I've never seen one before. Maybe your scanner is broken?"

"Kraang's scanner cannot break."

"Kraang will search the area."

Mondo peered out of the bush. He gasped in surprise at what he saw.

The doors to the van swung open and out stepped two men. Except they weren't really men. Or maybe they were but Mondo was sure they weren't like any men he'd ever seen.

Two robots were standing on the street. Each one held a weapon with a glowing pink strip in the side. But that wasn't the most scary thing about them.

In the abdomens of each of the robots sat a big, fat, pink brain blob.

So Mondo did what any sensible teenager would do. He screamed.

"Halt mutant."

Mondo darted out of the bush with skateboard in hand and his clothes securely wrapped around his waist running as fast as his little legs could carry him.

"Halt mutant or Kraang will fire."

Mondo dropped the skateboard onto the ground and jumped on it.

"Lars?" Hob murmured too quiet for anyone to hear.

"Kraang, fire!"

Mondo ducked and began skateing forward. He immediately hit a stone and was sent flying into a trash can. Hob winced at the loud crash.

"I'm fine!" Mondo shouted to no one in particular. The Kraang were terrible shots, Mondo weaved around the laser blasts and retrieved his board. He remounted it and began skating into the distance.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Reminder, I wrote this almost a year ago. Many references to the Prequel to the original Four Corners of the Earth story. I still need to edit that but check it out if you're confused.


	4. Foot

Present Day

New York

Tiger Claw crouched before the three shines beside Leonardo. Both mutants' heads were bowed in respect to the most recently built one. He hadn't known Splinter for more than a few minutes prior to his passing but he seemed like a skilled ninja. He silently wondered if Leo could see his father's spirit right now. Splinter had visited the clan after the defeat of the Shredder but Tiger Claw hadn't seen him since. It would make sense that he'd only appear to the new clan leader but Tiger Claw didn't ask.

Tiger Claw's tail swished behind him. He was getting a bit bored. He didn't want to be but he wasn't used to staying still for too long. Tiger Claw shifted and got to his feet. He didn't walk away though. He could sense Leo's sadness and didn't want to leave him.

Tiger Claw's ear flicked as he heard footsteps in the distance. Two sets soles thudding, claws clicking on stone, muffled steps, his four clanmates who had gone topside had returned.

Tiger Claw turned his attention back to Leo but was distracted by a loud yell.

"Guys! You gotta hear this!"

Leo looked up from the shrine and got to his feet. "We should probably go see what Mondo's yelling about."

Tiger Claw nodded and followed Leo out of the dojo. Casey, April, Rahzar, and Mondo were standing in the middle of the common room with everyone else surrounding them.

Rahzar's eyes were wild and his breathing was labored. His injured claws were broken again and bleeding. He had several new cuts on his upper body, the blood dried and matting his fur.

Mondo was covered in several bruises. He too was breathing hard but he lacked any open wounds. His eyes reflected his terror.

"Rahzar!" Donnie cried out as he walked into the room. He disappeared for a moment then reappeared with a med kit and ran up to his friend to begin cleaning the cuts.

"I'm fine," Rahzar murmured and waved him off but Donnie ignored him.

"What happened?" Leo demanded. "Did humans spot you?"

"I was attacked by robots!" Mondo screamed dramatically. Everyone visibly relaxed.

Leo looked to Rahzar.

"I was attacked by foot soldiers," Rahzar told him. Everyone tensed again.

"Already?" Tiger Claw questioned. His gaze flicked around the room. Both Leo and Raph still had medical dressings on their faces, Rockwell had wrappings around his ribs, Casey was slightly limping, and almost all of the others were bandaged in some way, shape, or form. "We haven't even healed our wounds from our last encounter. I predicted the remains would rise again but I thought we wouldn't see them for a few more months."

"Me too," Rahzar growled. Tiger Claw knew he was a skilled fighter, he would make a good ninja if he chose to train to do so, but somehow he'd gotten the most hurt when the Hamato Clan took out the Foot.

"What exactly happened?" Leo asked.

"I was heading upstate to see my old stomping grounds," Rahzar started. "I made sure not to be seen, I just looked into my house through some windows and jumped on a few fences. I saw everything I wanted to but I didn't see my brother anywhere."

"I didn't know you had a brother," April murmured.

Rahzar looked down. "We were….It's..."

"You don't need to tell us if you don't want to," Leo told him. "Continue."

"Yeah, well, I wanted to see him," Rahzar said. "I sniffed around a bit and couldn't find anything so I started heading back and I saw this billboard that said 'Bradford Dojo'. I bet you can guess what happened after that."

"The spirit of a bunny king came down and grated you the power of flight."

"Yeah- wait, what? No!"

Tiger Claw and several others sighed and shook their heads at Mikey who was watching Rahzar with sparkling eyes and his hands clenched together in excitement.

"I went there and I saw a bunch of people in Foot uniform," Rahzar explained. "They were doing some kind of weapon training. They were using the same kind of swords that you use, Karai."

"The wakizashi?"

"No, the other one."

"The tanto?"

"That's the one," Rahzar confirmed. "They were using those things."

"And they spotted you?" Leo questioned.

"No. I decided to do some snooping, it's not every day you find your enemies in your brother's dojo that you didn't know about," Rahzar said good naturedly. Then he frowned and ducked his head in embarrassment. "But I, uh, kinda forgot how vents worked and I fell off the roof."

Leo sighed. Tiger Claw made a mental note to give Rahzar some training.

"So anyway, the ninjas came out to see what was going on and they chased me around New York a bit," Rahzar finished.

"And they spotted you?"

"No, I fell into a trash can. When I heard them coming over, I put it over my head so they couldn't see that I was a mutant."

Bebop let out a loud laugh while Mikey started giggling. Rockwell, Leo, Raph, and Tiger Claw gave them hard stares and they quieted.

"Good strategy," Raph commented.

"He hid in trash!" Mikey exclaimed still snickering.

"So? I've done it," Raph said.

"He once pretended to be a llama," Casey told everyone with a stupid grin on his face.

"That's not what happened and you know it!"

"Um, anyway," Rahzar said, "from what I can tell, the Bradford Dojo is training soldiers for a new Foot Clan. They might've providing recruits for the Foot while 'ol Shred Head was still running things."

Tiger Claw frowned. This wasn't good.

Donnie rubbed an uninjured part of Rahzar's shoulder comfortingly. "I'm sure there's a good explanation for your brother's actions," he told him quietly.

Rahzar shook his head. "Doubt it."

"Are we done talking about the Foot?" Mondo asked. "'Cuz those robots were crazy! They had lasers and were all like pew pew pew p-"

"Why are you naked?" Donnie interrupted suddenly.

Tiger Claw noticed that the young mutant was holding his clothes. They were wadded up into a ball.

"I had to turn invisible to escape the robots."

"Man, I thought I taught you better than that," Bebop said. "What did I tell you, Mondo?"

Mondo sighed. "No going invisible."

"Any why?"

"Because it's socially unacceptable for children to walk around butt naked."

"He's not really a child, Bebop," Fishface pointed out.

"Leatherhead doesn't wear clothes, I needed to think up a rule that didn't apply to him but still required Mikey and Mondo to be civilized," Bebop said with his usual flair.

"That's why I wear my hat!" Mikey chirped adjusting the brim of his bright orange sun hat.

"We should attack this Bradford Dojo and wipe out the source of Foot Soldiers before they rise into an organized state," Tiger Claw suggested, all too ready to change the subject. Whether or not mutants needed to wear clothes... He thought about it far more than he would ever admit.

"We can't just go out in the open and attack a human's property," Leo pointed out.

"Why?" Rocksteady asked. "Is that not what we did when Shredder attack New York City?"

"That was different," Leo said.

"How? I not understand."

"They were attacking the city. Besides, there wasn't any chance of any civilians around to see us."

"Have you guys seen the newspaper articles about that?" Karai asked. "They report fast."

"Girl, you are way behind on the times," Rahzar smiled.

April pulled out her phone and hit a few buttons before scrolling then handed it to her roommate. "Even news on cable is outdated. You can find everything on social media."

"What social media?"

Donnie, Rahzar, and April's eyes widened.

"We have got to have a discussion on modern technology and culture soon," Donnie said.

Karai handed the phone back and put her hands up defensively. "Well the Chinese forests weren't exactly filled with telephones."

"Cell phones. They're cell phones," April said.

"Smart phones, actually," Donnie corrected.

"They're the best," Rahzar added. "We couldn't really go outside back at the lab because, y'know, weather. The internet saved us from-"

"Guys focus." Leo snapped his fingers a few times to grab everyone's attention back. "The Foot Clan is back. Our greatest enemy."

"And robots," Mondo said.

"And… robots," Leo added hesitantly.

"It does not seem like there is much we can do," Fishface said. "You said it yourself, we can't exactly attack the dojo."

"And its likely the dojo is only a training ground, not the actual base," Tiger Claw pointed out.

"Yes, I believe some reconnaissance is in order," Fishface said.

"Good idea," Leo stated. "Karai, April, Casey, you three pass as humans."

"We are humans," Casey piped up. Leo ignored him.

"You three snoop around the city, not just the dojo. Try and find some sign or connection to the Foot Clan somewhere then we can follow up on some leads," Leo ordered then looked in Mondo and Rahzar's direction. "Rahzar, take it easy a bit. You haven't even fully recovered from your previous injuries."

"What about the robots?" Mondo asked.

"Donnie… check Mondo's head please."

"Ah, in case the robots are aliens and probed my brain," Mondo nodded. He winked and flicked his fingers at Leo. "I gotchu."

"Sure thing Leo," Donnie sighed.


	5. NYC

Present Day

New York

Karai buried her face in her hand, praying that this was a dream.

"I love New York City!" Casey was shouting. He threw back his arms and reached his arms to the sky, laughing and spinning around without a care in the world. Some passersbys gave him an odd look but went on their way.

Karai, April, and Casey were walking down a street a few blocks away from New York's Chinatown. Karai wanted more than anything to head back down the sewers to the lair but Leo had told the three of humans to do some recon so that's what she was going to do.

She briefly wondered if her discomfort had anything to do with the fact that she wasn't fully human like her current companions then quickly dismissed the thought. These two were Americans.

"We should totally go to the Statue of Liberty or something!" Casey exclaimed.

Karai looked to April in mutuality but found that she didn't seem bothered by Casey's extravagance.

"Aren't you literally from New York?" Karai asked.

"Yeah but I haven't been here in, like, forever," Casey pointed out. "I want to see everything! That's why we're here, right?"

"It really couldn't hurt," April said.

Karai let out a long sigh.

"You've never been in a big city like this. You should be more excited!"

"I've spent fifteen years avoiding large human settlements," Karai told the loud teenager. "My kind do not belong in a place like this."

"Hush," April said quietly. "We're trying to keep a low profile, remember? Don't mention anything about being a mutant."

"I didn't. And Casey's the one drawing attention to us."

"That's normal. Everyone will just think he's just a tourist."

"We are just tourists."

"That's the spirit," April said and jogged to catch up with Casey who was currently kicking a fire hydrant. Karai blinked. April seemed to think that she wasn't being serious.

Karai sped up a little bit to catch up with the human teenagers. She managed to do so in a few paces. Karai glanced at them and everyone around, they were all moving so slow. Everyone looked so… weak. She saw very few people who had any sort of muscle on them. Well, Casey had a pretty good build. April wasn't doing too bad but it was clear that she'd spent years in a lab rather than running around in the wilderness like Karai.

"Hurry up," she instructed. "We don't have all day."

"We actually do," Casey said.

"You two had all day yesterday. Today we're on a mission."

"Ooh, don't get between a woman and her mission," Casey said humorously. He slowed down a bit into a relaxed stride and put his hands behind his head. "Relax a bit, snakey."

Karai frowned. How could she relax? She was in a heavily populated city of all places. Tall buildings, no trees, no natural cover. And there were so many humans. She couldn't shift into her mutant form. And she didn't even have her armor. She had to wear these cloth human clothes though at least she had a knife hidden in the thigh of her pants.

"Maybe we should split up," April suggested.

"No, we'll never be able to find each other again," Karai said sharply. "And three pairs of eyes are better than one."

"But we would cover more ground."

"Quality versus quantity. One of us will miss something. If we're all together, there's a lower chance of that happen."

"Get it right the first time."

"Precisely."

"You really need to loosen up, snakey," Casey said, still walking leisurely.

Karai glared at him. "Quit it."

"Fine. That nickname stinks anyway. Help me think of a better one, Red."

"Because Red is so much better," April said sarcastically. "Hey Karai, we're pretty close to Chinatown. You're Chinese, right? Are you interested in heading that way?"

"I'm Japanese. Tiger Claw found me in China," Karai told her.

"Oh."

"We may as well head that way," Karai shrugged. "I doubt there's another place with such Asian influence in New York. There's a good of a chance as any to find the Foot here."

"Shh," April reminded.

"Hey, how do you say snake in Chinese?" Casey asked.

"Shé," Karai responded. "Or maybe lóng, I suppose."

"Shé," Casey repeated. "It sounds like she kinda. I like that. Like woman snake."

Karai rolled her eyes but smiled to herself silently.

* * *

Leo was once again crouched before Splinter's shrine though this time Tiger Claw was not at his side. He felt he was being a bit obsessive but he also felt this was necessary.

"I really wish you were here," Leo murmured quietly. "I don't understand why I'm the sensei. I mean, I do. I'm the only one with Hamato blood who has the qualities to lead but I really wish you were still here. I don't know what to do."

"I sent Karai, Casey, and April topside to do recon today," Leo continued. "Yesterday Rahzar found out the Foot Clan is rebuilding. When Rahzar said that, I didn't know what to do. Fishface was actually the one who suggested doing some snooping. If he hadn't…"

Leo trailed off and his eyes drifted to the shrine. The spirit of Splinter was standing before him.

"Sensei…!"

Splinter's spirit dipped his head.

"I don't know what to do, Sensei," Leo told him. "The Foot Clan is coming back. Last time you were able to tell us about the Shredder and the base's location but now-"

"I can still help you," Splinter said softly. "But I can only guide your footsteps. I cannot tell you everything. You still must act on your own."

Leo dipped his head. "What can you tell me?"

"Tell is not the best word," Splinter spoke. "Show would be better."

"Then what can you show me?"

"Come. Let us meditate," Splinter instructed and made his way to the thick tree that sat in the dojo. His gaze lingered on it a moment, taking in the sight of its liveliness. He snapped out of it and dropped into the lotus position. Leo did the same. Splinter turned so the two were facing each other.

"You learned of the Astral Plane, yes?" Splinter asked.

Leo nodded. "Tiger Claw told me about it."

"Through meditation, one's spirit can go there," Splinter explained. "But that is not what I want to teach you. You need your mind to reach the Astral Plane, not your spirit."

"Why?" Leo asked, confused.

"You are able to receive… visions from the Astral Plane," Splinter explained. "You need those to guide you."

"Can't you just guide me?"

Splinter chuckled. "I do not know everything. The universe will share with you what it wants you to know."

Leo blinked. He was still confused. Splinter was being kind of vague.

"Do you know how to meditate?"

Leo nodded.

"Good. Begin and let my words and spirit guide you."

* * *

"Thank you Mr. Murakami!" April called. A soft blind cook waved in her direction.

"What a nice guy," Casey commented rubbing his full stomach. "He makes good food too."

Karai nodded. April was happy that she enjoyed going to the restaurant so much. The two girls were roomates in the lair due to the lack of rooms and other female clan members and April quickly realized how much of an effect living isolated from society had on Karai. That led to many conversations that April never thought she'd have.

April's thoughts were interrupted by a ringing sound. She checked her phone. No one was calling her.

"My cellular talking device is making sound," Karai said with a confused look in April's direction. "What do I do?"

"Press the answer button," April told her. Karai hit the home button. April sighed. That technology lesson that Donnie suggested was sounding like a very good idea right now. "On the screen."

Karai stared at the screen for a moment. She held it up and looked at the different sides. Casey reached over and hit it.

"Is this thing working?" Leo's voice came from the other end of the line.

"Leo? Can you hear me?"

"Karai?"

Casey hit the speakerphone button and gently took Karai's hand to guide it closer to her face.

"Leo?" Karai repeated.

"Karai!" Leo said. "Thank the divine, I've been trying to call you for forever."

"Did you ask Donnie for help?" April asked. "Phones aren't too complicated, he should've been able to help you."

"I think he's having a minor existential crisis or something," Leo said. "I didn't want to bother him. And phones are complicated. It took Rocksteady twenty minutes to get it to turn on."

"Rocksteady's kind of old… old people aren't that good with technology…" Casey said.

"And he's a mutant. From Russia. I doubt Russia had phones when he was still living with humans," April pointed out.

"Don't disrespect Rocksteady," Karai said darkly.

"I wasn't!"

"Anyway, point to why I'm calling, how much progress have you three made?" Leo asked.

"Not a lot, we've only been out for a few hours. This city is huge and unfamiliar," Karai reported.

"Do you remember where the Foot's old base was?"

"Yes."

"Go there."

"Why?"

"Just go there.."

"Okay…"

"Do you actually remember where it is?" April whispered to the kunoichi.

"Of course," she said. "Why would I lie to Leo?"

April shrugged. Karai looked away and broke into a run.

"Hey, wait up!" April called and took off after her.

"Why are we running?" Casey shouted from behind them.

* * *

April was ready to pass out by the time that she, Karai, and Casey reached the old Foot headquarters. She bent over, putting her hands on her knees, with her face flushed. Somehow, Karai looked perfectly fine and Casey was barely breathing harder than usual. April suddenly felt very self conscious and straightened herself, forcing her breathing to go back to normal.

"Are you okay?" Casey asked.

"Peachy," April replied.

"What are we looking for here Leo?" Karai asked into the phone.

"You're not looking for anything. Just follow my instructions," Leo said through the speaker. "Are you standing on front of the entrance?"

"Yes."

"Head west."

"Which way is west?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"You're the one giving me instructions!"

"Allow me," April said and plucked the phone from Karai's hand. She tapped it a few times then a compass appeared on screen. The tilted it until the arrows aligned then headed to the left. "Now what?"

"Go down the street until you see a big billboard. Two alleyways from there turn right."

The trio followed his instructions. To April's joy, Karai didn't run this time.

"Okay, now what?"

"Turn- actually, you know what? Just get up onto the rooftops, it'll be easier to travel that way."

"The rooftops?" April gulped. She looked up hesitantly. How were they even supposed to get up there?

"Now you're speaking my language," Karai grinned. She ran at the side of a building and leaped up, kicking off the side of the building and launching herself onto a fire escape. In the blink of an eye, she was standing on the roof.

Casey and April exchanged a look. There was no way either of them would be able to do that.

Thankfully, Karai didn't expect them to. A few seconds later, the kicked down the fire escape's ladder with a loud clang. April smiled and walked up to it. Within a few seconds, April and Casey were standing beside Karai.

"Okay, now what?" April asked, pulling the phone out of her pocket where she'd put it when she was climbing.

"Look East. You should see a warehouse complex."

April squinted and shielded her eyes from the sun.

"I see it," Karai said. April gave her a sideways glance. This girl was better at her at everything! "Should we head in that direction?"

"Yeah."

Karai braced as if she was about to jump.

"Woah, woah, woah," Aprils said, waving her hands to stop. "That's all the way across town, it'll take all day to get there."

"Not if we run."

"We can just take a cab," Casey suggested.

"What's a cab?" Karai asked. April laughed for a moment then realized she was being serious.

"We really need to do some cultural osmosis or something," April stated.

"What's osmosis?"

"Nevermind. You should spend some time in the city."

Karai frowned.

"Maybe not the best idea," Casey said. "Culture shock is a thing. Besides, hanging around in the sewers with a bunch of mutants is way cooler than stomping around New York."

April didn't like how quickly Karai nodded. April had spent the past three years with a bunch of guys and she was hoping to form some kind of sisterly bond but Karai was raised around what was pretty much two fathers and a brother with no contact with other females. She acted way too much like Casey.

"That doesn't mean we're not taking a cab," April said firmly.

"You still didn't tell us what a cab is," Leo said. "Will it slow you down?"

"No its faster," April said. "It's just a car ride. Someone picks you up in a car called a taxi then drives you wherever you want as long as you pay them."

"Can we spare the funds?"

"We could probably ditch without paying."

"Casey!"

"What? I don't know about you, Red, but I've literally been eating trash for three months, I'm not about to give some disgusting New Yorker my hard earned cash."

"You stole it."

"Exactly. It's mine."

"A car ride doesn't sound like the safest way to travel," Karai interrupted. "I'd much rather just run across the rooftops."

"That sounds even less safe."

"How?" Karai asked looking genuinely confused.

April sighed. "If you think you can do it…"

Karai gave a single sharp nod. "I'll meet you there."

"Make sure not to shift into your mutant form!" Leo warned over the phone.

"Of course Leo, I'm not an idiot," Karai said with a happy smirk then ran and leaped off the roof, leaving April and Casey to get down by their own means.


	6. Snooping

Present Day

New York

"What took you so long?" Karai said with her hand on her hip and a smirky smile on her face as she looked down from the rooftop to April and Casey as they approached. With a graceful leap, she was standing beside them within a few seconds.

April gave her a slight glare. Karai cocked her head and blinked innocently. The red haired girl didn't seem very fond of her.

Casey raised the phone to his mouth. "We're at the warehouse complex, Leo. What are we supposed to be looking for? Please say a mutant. That would be so metal."

"Maybe. I don't know," Leo responded. Karai snatched the phone from Casey's hand.

"What do you mean you don't know? You sent us halfway across the city for no reason?" she shouted into the phone.

"You're the one who didn't want to ride in the cab," April muttered under her breath. Karai gave her a glare with serpentine eyes. April flinched back.

"Just search the area," Leo sighed. "If you don't find anything, at least you can check this spot off the areas you have to search."

"Alright."

"Thanks. Tell me if you find anything. Leo out."

The mutant turtle hung up on the other end of the line.

Karai pocketed the phone then paused. "This is my phone right?"

"Yeah," April said. She looked around. "Should we spread out?"

"Yes," Karai answered, not wanting to spend too much time slowed down by the two humans. Without another word, she ran back to the rooftops.

"Karai, wait up!" Casey called. He looked to April. "I got this, Red. You go on ahead."

Karai waited with a bored expression as Casey clambered up to stand beside her on the top of the building.

"What's your deal with April?" he asked.

"What?"

"You seem like you don't like her."

"I don't have a problem with her, we're just different people."

"You're rooming with her, you should try to make an effort to get along."

Karai scoffed. "Just because you sleep in the same room as someone doesn't mean you have to become best friends or whatever."

"This'll be a lot easier if you two were."

"We're only sharing a room because there's not a lot of space and we're the only two girls in the clan."

"Would it kill you to be friendly?"

"I have no interest in being her friend," Karai said. "The ways of humans is strange to me and I am even more unfamiliar with the ways of females."

"What did she do?" Casey asked with amused anticipation in his voice. The two began walking.

Karai sighed. "The other day, she handed me a blade when I was grinding my fingernails down."

"That was probably a pair of nail clippers. What were you using?"

"A stone."

"That's why," Casey told her. The two reached the edge of the roof. Karai took a leap, flipping a few times, and landed on the next building. Casey was less graceful. He charged and stumbled a bit after he landed. "Humans use a special kind of scissors for that. Anything else?"

"After our fight with the Foot, I began shedding to heal my injuries and I went to a slower state to replenish my venom," Karai told him and broke into a run, "and she kept handing me hot towels, strange plastic tubes, and foul smelling brown medicine."

Casey coughed, embarrassed. He sped up to keep up with her. "Girls do this thing… actually, you know what? I'm not going to have this conversation with you. It would be best to ask April about it. It's a thing that men will never be able to understand. Anything else?"

"She kept trying to paint me."

Casey laughed. "I don't think that's what she was trying to do."

"She kept telling me that I don't sit like a girl. What's that even supposed to mean?"

"Guys sit with their legs apart. Girls sit with their legs together."

"Why?"

"Um… biology?"

"All of her soap and cleaning products smells like… like…. I don't even know how to describe it. It smells weird."

"That's a girl thing," Casey nodded. He jumped over a vent sticking out of the roof that they were on. "I don't know what to tell you. Girls do weird things sometimes."

Karai smiled. "My point exactly."

Casey realized what he was doing and sighed, stopping. "Fine you got me. But you really should spend some time with April. If you're against the idea of doing it to learn about the way girls act, just do it because you're in the same clan."

"There are plenty of other clan members that are more interesting," Karai said stopping beside him. "Like your friend Fishface. I heard he's a master thief from Brazil."

Casey smiled. "Yeah. Yeah he is."

"And Bebop. He is such a strange creature," Karai continued. "His spirit is so lively. I've never seen anyone like him."

"Me neither," Casey nodded. "And that gizmo he's got is so cool with all its bright lights and stuff. He can fire lasers out of his head."

"Rahzar is quite an interesting creature as well," Karai went on. "He would make a great ninja, especially with his mutant form. He is agile enough to take out an opponent without them noticing."

"Donnie told me he's good at basketball," Casey said.

"And there's Leatherhead. He seems so sad yet so happy," Karai said.

"What do you mean?"

Karai shrugged. "Just watch him sometime."

"Do you know who I wanna know about?" Casey asked.

"Who?"

"Tiger Claw," Casey answered. "He seems so cool."

Karai smiled. "He is."

She took a step back and began slowly jogging backwards, signaling to Casey that it was time to start moving again.

"Is he a ninja master like Splinter was?" Casey asked. "He seems to know so much about ninjutsu. Or was he a samurai? Leo seems very samurai-ish."

"He was never officially a ninja," Karai told him. "Or a samurai. Rocksteady found some ancient scrolls on the ways of a samurai once, Leo was fascinated by it and learned everything about samurai from those, not Tiger Claw. I think Tiger Claw did something similar with ninjutsu. I'm not sure."

"How come?"

Karai shrugged. "He never spoke of his past much. Rocksteady says he was mutated at a young age and had kind of a hard life because of it. He probably picked up ninjitsu somewhere or trained under another mutant. He used to take down clans that he thought were unworthy or something."

Casey nodded thoughtfully. The two ran in silence for awhile over the rooftops. They were somewhat running along the border of the warehouse complex and moving inwards.

"Do you know who I wanna know about?" Karai asked, repeating Casey's earlier question.

"Who?"

"You."

"Me?" Casey squeaked and nearly stopped running. He stumbled slightly on the following leap to the next building.

"Yeah," Karai said. "Your story must be quite interesting. You're a human who chose to live among mutants."

"Oh," Casey said. "Long story short, my folks took me and my sister to some resort place around Ecuador and my dad took me out fishing. Fishing isn't really my thing so I slept in the boat's cabin the whole time and he may have accidentally caught Fishface."

Karai laughed.

"... and then Fishface accidently killed him."

Karai stopped laughing. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it was a while ago, I'm over it," Casey said then paused. "I mean, of course I didn't want my dad to die but I'm really glad I met Fishface, Slash, and Raph. Living in the mountains with a bunch of awesome mutants is way better than being stuck up in some school and living with your nagging mom."

Karai nodded. Tiger Claw had told her that he found her in some kind of Foot Clan camp. She loved living out in the forest with him, Rocksteady, and Leo. Way more than she would've enjoyed her life in the Foot Clan.

Karai suddenly came to a realization. If Tiger Claw had never found her, she would've been trained as a Foot Soldier and spent her life fighting for the survival of the Foot Clan. If she'd been sent to New York, she may have been part of the army that the Hamato Clan fought in their successful attempt to take out the Shredder. Karai frowned at the thought of fighting her friends, old and new.

Karai was snapped out of her thoughts by a shout from across the warehouse complex.

"Casey! Karai! Look out!"

Karai's kunoichi senses kicked in. Something was flying at the pair and it was flying fast. Wasting no time, Karai threw her arms around Casey and tackled him to the ground.

Casey let out a cry of surprise as the two sailed over the edge of the building. Midair, Karai maneuvered them so that she was on the bottom and so that she took most of the impact of the fall herself.

The two lay on top of each other dazed for a moment.

"You okay?" Karai asked.

"Thanks to you, snake lady," Casey smiled.

"Then get off me."

"Sorry!" Casey scrambled away and got to his feet.

Karai's sharp eyes scanned the horizon for any sign of their attackers. "Foot Soldiers!"

"Oh man!" Casey said as he paws at his pockets. He looked at Karai with a nervous expression. "Any chance you have any weapons?"

"Any chance you know how to use bamboo throwing stars?" Karai responded.

"Um, no. Why do you have bamboo throwing stars?"

"There's isn't exactly a large supply of metal in the middle of nowhere in China."

"Good point."

"Guys!" April called as she ran up to them. "They're closing in!"

"Do you have any weapons on you?" Karai asked.

"No, of course not. Why would I be carrying around weapons in New York?"

"We need to get away from here," Karai said with an uneasy look in the direction that the throwing star had come from. The ninjas were no longer visible but Karai knew they were getting close.

"Can't you just… you know…" April gave a snake impression.

"This is a public area, someone will see me," Karai told her.

"Actually this is a private lot probably," Casey said. Karai shot him an annoyed look then grabbed his arm.

"Come on. We need to find a place to launch a sneak attack."

"Or hide," April said.

"Or that."

* * *

Halfway across the warehouse complex, two trash cans sat leaned against the truck of a thick tree.

"This is a terrible idea," April's voice echoed from within the trash can.

"Shut up, they'll hear you," Karai whispered from her perch up high in the leaves of the tree. She held a sharp stick in one hand.

"We should call Leo back," Casey said. He pushed the lid off the trash can he was hiding in slightly off so his voice didn't echo like April's.

"That would've been a great idea fifteen minutes ago!" Karai hissed. "Now quiet!"

A few annoyed grumbles were heard from the trash cans but they were mute in a few moments.

Concentrating, Karai could hear muffled footsteps somewhere nearby but she couldn't pinpoint the location of the source. She peer out of her hiding place among the leaves. She spotted a foursome of men dressed in Foot uniform heading their way and a few dozen more soldiers patrolling from a top the surrounding warehouses.

The ground group walked in a tight formation passed where the Hamato Clan members were hiding.

"I do not see anything," one of the soldiers spoke.

"Probably just some Purple Dragons trying to join up," another agreed.

"Our duties are surely needed elsewhere," a third soldier said.

"We should head back to base."

One of the ninjas gave a signal to the others. The ninjas vanished in a few seconds.

Karai heard a relieved sigh and the lid of a trash can being pushed. April's head rose from the trash can. "That was cl-"

April was cut off as when a Foot Soldier suddenly appeared in front of her and grabbed her by the front of the shirt.

"It was a trap, fool," Karai hissed and dropped out of the tree. She jabbed the Foot Soldier with the stick she was clutching. "Let her go!"

Casey stuck his head out of his trash can. "Pretend we're different people," he whispered. April looked at him and Karai with fearful eyes.

The Foot Soldier had recovered from the surprise attack and was glaring down Karai. Karai, remembering what Casey had said, dropped into a weak fighting stance with her stick pointed towards the soldier. "Stay back!"

"Foolish girl," the soldier said and charged. Karai side stepped him and rose her arm to bring her elbow down on him as he passed.

"Go… Kali!" April cheered. Karai looked at her, confused. April winked. Karai got it after a moment.

"Ain't no one mess with my sister!" Casey said and picked up the trash can lid. He tried to swing it over the head of the Foot Soldier from behind but the ninja weaved around the attack and retorted with a hard kick to Casey's abdomen that sent the boy flying.

"Ain't no one mess with my brother!" Karai shouted, trying to make their acts convicining. She swung at the soldier with a wild fist and missed. Concentrating his power into two fingers, the soldier struck her in the abdomen where he'd hit Casey and knocked her back as well.

That left April to face the lone Foot Soldier. Karai groaned as she sat up from where she landed on the pavement. April was a good actor. She looked terrified. Or maybe she actually was, Karai was inexperienced in this sort of thing.

The soldier raised his hand as if to hit her but another soldier was suddenly at his side and grabbed his fist before it could strike.

"Wait," the second Foot Soldier said. "It's just a girl."

The first Foot Soldier snatched his hand away from the other one. "So? Boss says we can't have no one snooping around here."

"They're just kids. Probably just some teenagers cutting class and getting into some trouble," the second Foot Soldier told him.

"You got us," Karai said, getting up and walking over.

"Yeah, we're totally high school students… cutting class," April said nervously.

"Dudes, where'd you get those costumes? They're so cool," Casey said and started touching the first Foot Soldier's chest. "This is really nice material. Where can I get some like that?"

The soldier jerked away from him and glared.

"Sorry, man," Casey said, putting his hands up. "You've got your personal space, I shouldn't invade it."

"You kids head back to school," the second Foot Soldier instructed. "And we better not see you trespassing here again."

"Or what?" Karai challenged.

"Or… or… Or we'll call the police!"

Karai, Casey, and April pretended to look scared.

"Scram!"


	7. Foot Base?

New York

Present Day

Leo paced uneasily around the common room. Raph sat on the couch watching him uneasily.

"Why are you freaking out over this so much?" Raph asked.

Leo paused to look at him. "I'm not used to giving orders like that. What if I lead them into a trap?"

Raph rolled his eyes. "Why would that warehouse complex you sent them to be a trap? You're way too paranoid, Leo."

Leo opened his mouth to respond then closed it. He wasn't sure if he wanted to tell his brother that he'd spoken with Splinter and he certainly didn't know how to explain the vision he'd received when he tapped into the Astral Plane.

It was strange, not totally clear. He thought he saw a large number of armed men and some machinery. And maybe some green glowing stuff but he wasn't sure. The only thing that Leo was sure that he saw was a tough looking man raiding the place.

Splinter had told him that that probably wasn't actually happening, the Astral Plane acted in strange ways that not even he, an experienced ninja, could always understand but Leo wasn't taking any chances.

"Stop that."

Leo realized that he'd started pacing again.

"Sorry."

Leo began moving towards the couch to sit beside his red masked brother when he heard footsteps. Human footsteps.

"That was so metal!" Casey was shouting as he walked into the lair. He gave a victorious fist pump then flinched in pain. Karai and April walked in after him sporting injuries of their own.

"You're hurt!" Leo stated. Guilt washed over him. He shouldn't have told them to investigate the warehouse on their first patrol.

Karai waved him off when he went up to her. "Minor scrapes and bruises."

"What happened?" Raph asked, coming over.

"Dude, it was so cool," Casey said excitedly. He looked at Leo. "You're intel was good, man. That place was crawling with Foot Soldiers!"

Leo's eyes widened. He'd sent his clanmates into danger.

"Don't worry Leo," April reassured, sensing his distress. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We only actually ran into one patrol."

"And?"

"And we fought them," Karai said. "Then Casey had the idea to convince them we were just kids having some fun getting into trouble."

Leo blinked. "Good job Casey."

"No prob."

"So now that we know where the Foot are, are we going to attack?" Raph asked eagerly.

"That's not the actual base," Karai pointed out. "And we already knew one of their locations."

"I heard one of the soldiers mention that the warehouse complex is close to their actual base," April said.

"Then you know what that means," Leo said. Karai smirked. Raph grinned and twirled his sai.

"Wait, I'm confused, what are we going?" Casey asked. Leo sighed.

* * *

"I do not understand point in walking in circle," Rocksteady said as he walked down an aisle in the warehouse complex with his massive golden hammer in one hand and his golden sickle in the other.

It was nighttime but the moon was out and the sky was clear. Still, the darkness made the lights on Bebop's vest incredibly eye catching.

"We's supposed to be bait, man," Bebop said as he walked beside the rhinoceros in a relaxed gait with his hands folded behind his head.

"Trap no will work," Rocksteady told him. "Ninja are ninja for reason, they do not fall for trap."

"They won't if you keep saying that," Bebop said. Rocksteady sighed.

The two reached the end of the aisle and turned into another one. Bebop fidgeted while Rocksteady rocked the sickle in his hand.

"So you're from Russia?" Bebop asked, striking up conversation.

"Da. Born and raised. Come from good Russian family," Rocksteady told him.

"Cool cool," Bebop nodded. "I'm from California."

"That is in United States, correct?"

"Yeah. West Coast."

"Cool cool," Rocksteady said hesitantly, repeating what Bebop had said. The warthog gave a small smile.

"Foot Clan attack!"

Bebop let out a squeal and ducked behind Rocksteady. Metal shuriken flew through the air right at them from above. Rocksteady rose a powerful arm and batted them away with his hammer. The attack continued and several of the stars hit his body but they bounced off his thick hide.

"Hamato Clan attack!" Leo's voice echoed through the empty complex.

The blue masked turtle, Karai, Fishface, Rockwell, and Slash suddenly appeared from the shadows.

With unbelievable speed, Karai and Leo were on the rooftop with one each on either side of the team of Foot Soldiers who had thrown the shuriken at their friends. Leo drew his katanas from their sheaths on his shell with a serious expression and excited gleam in his eyes. Karai shared his excitement and drew her newly crafted tanto from a sheath strapped to her thigh.

"This is going to be fun," Karai smirked.

Foot Soldiers were knocked off the roof. Rockwell caught several of them midfall with his telekinesis and began slamming them against the side of the warehouse that they'd been standing on. The rest fell to the pavement but flipped to their feet before they landed. Slash and Fishface closed in on them.

"You got that right, sister," Slash said and cracked his knuckles. Karai smiled and kicked a Foot Soldier off the roof to Slash on the ground. The giant rose a fist and sent the soldier flying.

Fishface launched himself into the cluster of Foot Soldiers with one foot out. The ninjas darted around his attack. The mutant dropped the foot and shifted his weight to lash out with the other with lightning speed. Another soldier was sent flying.

Leo and Karai had finished sending the soldiers to the ground and dropped down to join their companions.

"Gimme a lift!" Bebop instructed. Rocksteady gave a curt nod and crouched down with his palm outstretched. Bebop leaped onto his hand in a swift motion and the rhino launched him into the air. Spinning and flipping, Bebop sent energy blasts raining down on the fight with remarkable accuracy before landing on the roof where Leo and Karai had been.

A blast nailed a soldier who had dropped down and was about to sweep Karai's legs out from under her. The man didn't fall far, he was already close to the ground, but his back hit painfully against the pavement. Karai turned around and kicked him in the ribs.

The ninja groaned from the blow then his masked face melted into recognition. "Hey! You're that girl from earlier! Kali!"

"Kali?" Leo questioned as he twisted around a swing from another soldier and lashed out with a kick before he landed. The soldier staggered back. Leo's feet hit the ground and he rushed him and struck him with the flat of his katana before he could retaliate.

"April's idea," Karai grumbled and kicked the fallen soldier once more for good measure. "Casey had some idea to pretend we-"

"Yeah, you told me," Leo said. He ducked under a sword aimed at his head. "Focus on the fight."

"Allow me," Rockwell said. The Foot Soldiers that he'd been ramming into the nearby buildings lay unconscious in a pile. Rockwell's eyes narrowed and he thrust his hands forward. The remaining soldiers were lifted into the air.

With a simple flick of his wrist, Rockwell sent the soldiers flying into three streams, one to Rocksteady, one to Slash, and one into the air. Rocksteady and Slash battered each Foot Soldier whenever one came their way and Bebop gleefully began using the other soldiers as target practice.

"Hee hee!"

"I will pop your head like the blueberry!"

"Thanks Rockwell!"

"Foot Clan retreat!" a voice shouted. From the shadows, a number of fresh soldiers appeared. The Hamato mutants braced, expecting them to attack, but they merely ran up to their fallen comrades and began dragging them away.

A lone Foot Soldier ran up to each of the mutants. They each stared a moment then dropped a smoke bomb, filling the surrounding air with a thick fog. The mutants began coughing.

"Fishface?" Leo called.

"On it!" the Brazilian mutant responded. He began flapping his flat tail, fanning the smoke away. Not the best clearance method but it did the job. Now that the air was clear, everyone could see that the ninjas were gone.

"They got away," Slash said.

"Rockwell?" Leo looked to the chimpanzee.

Rockwell nodded then closed his eyes and pressed his fingers to his temples. "Team two, move in."

* * *

Foot Soldiers flew across the rooftops, several carrying their unconscious comrades, as they fled the warehouse complex. A few blocks away, atop an apartment complex, a mutant tiger crouched as he watched them leap from building to building through a pair of binoculars.

Behind him, a wolf-like mutant scraped his claws against the roof and stared with his head lowered and eyes glowing. A muscled red masked turtle leaned against a wall and watched with a similar serious expression.

"Team two move in."

Tiger Claw gave a small smile, flashing his fangs, and a low growl. He pressed his hands to his sides where his weapons were sheathed and activated his jet pack. The newly upgraded device carried him silently through the night air towards his target. Rahzar and Raph jumped off the building and ran below him with equal silence.

Team two kept their distance from the patrol of Foot Soldiers, trailing them from a distance. The most of the Foot patrol wasn't moving too fast. The ones carrying their comrades stuck close to each other while the ones with free hands surrounded them, frequently swapping positions. It was a good strategy. Tiger Claw had seen many clans in his lifetime and he'd never seen a technique quite like this.

But, it was still flawed. They hadn't checked to see if they'd been followed. Either these ninjas weren't trained as well as Tiger Claw had thought or they were overconfident. Or they knew and were leading the mutants into a trap though they showed no sign of it. They seemed to be making a beeline for wherever they'd originally planned on retreating to.

They didn't go far. The patrol began to slow down around what resembled an office building. The ninjas didn't drop to the ground, they just leaped straight into the side of the building and slipped in through the windows.

The Hamato mutants stopped on the roof of another office building across the street. Tiger Claw once again crouched to scope. He raised a paw and gave a series of complex hand signals. He tensed to jump then looked back at his teammates. They were staring at him blankly.

Tiger Claw sighed. "Recon."

Raph and Rahzar's faces turned to display determination. They each gave a short nod and jumped off the building.

Trusting the two younger mutants to do their job, Tiger Claw turned his attention back to the building. If luck had it, this was the current headquarters for the Foot Clan. Or at least a major operation. An office building didn't seem like the best place to rebuild a clan but then again, they were rebuilding just like the Hamato Clan. An office building certainly seemed like a better place to rebuild than the sewers.

Tiger Claw flew up to a window without a sound and peered in. Inside the building was dark and the fact it was still night time was not helping. He took a moment to let his eyes adjust to the dark.

Inside, he spotted the thick floor mattings used for training outlining the floors, ceiling, and walls. Several shuriken were embedded into them.

Tiger Claw dropped down a level. He could see broken traps inside. They looked as if they were in the process of being made. Good. That probably meant there weren't any set.

Tiger Claw flew around and peered similarly into the various windows. Confident that they were in the right place, he backtracked to the spot he'd been standing earlier.

Raph and Rahzar were already there, waiting, by the time the tiger landed.

"This is for sure a Foot Base," Raph said. "There are Foot emblems everywhere."

"The place stinks of smoke bombs, weapon cleaner, and sweat," Rahzar growled in agreement.

"Then you know what our job is," Tiger Claw said. From where the holsters usually sat on his thighs, the tiger untied two bags and untied one from around his waist. He handed one bag to each of his comrades.

Raph reached his hand in and drew a rectangular piece of technology. "How does it work?"

"Just stick it to the wall and flip that switch," Rahzar told him. "It shouldn't fall. Donnie says the machine will do the rest."

Raph nodded and put the device back in. He tucked the bag under his arm as if carrying a football and leaped off the building without another world. Tiger Claw and Rahzar exchanged a brief nod before doing the same.

Tiger Claw didn't use his jet pack this time. He felt this task required more precision. He launched himself off the roof with a flying leap and landed flatly on the side of the Foot building. He dug his claws into the material to keep himself from falling and began climbing like a spider.

He circled around to the side of the building so that he was over an alleyway. He grabbed a device from the bag and stuck it to the wall. As Rahzar had said, it stuck. Tiger Claw slid his thumb over a switch. A sensor lit up, signifying the device was working. Satisfied, Tiger Claw moved to place another.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I wrote this chapter almost exactly two years before editing it. It's so strange looking at my old writing style.


	8. Time To Talk

New York

Present Day

Tiger Claw walked through the sewers pipes with Rahzar and Raph trailing behind him. None of them complained about the smell or their wet feet. No one had discovered a better way to get home yet.

Tiger Claw flicked sewage off his long tail with disgust as he stepped onto solid, dry land. He heard Rahzar and Raph slip out of the liquid after him. He paused a moment, allowing them to shake themselves as clean as they could, before proceeding to climb up a set of stairs.

He was immediately hit with a sense of familiarity as the trio walked into the lair. He gave a small smile when he saw Leo pacing around the common room with Karai trying to calm him down. He bit back a purr. Oh, how he loved those two.

Leo's face relaxed once he lay eyes on the three mutants. "You're back!"

"Did you plant all of the receivers?" Donnie asked eagerly as he entered the room with Rockwell at his side.

Tiger Claw nodded. "Yes. Though I do not see the point in them."

Donnie was holding up a shiny laptop. "They're audio receivers. Well, most of them are. I stuck some cameras in there. So we should be more than covered."

Rahzar and Raph exchanged a glance. Rahzar palmed his face with a low growl. Tiger Claw sighed. Leo shifted his weight around on his feet. "Is that supposed to mean something, Don?"

"Oh, sorry," Donnie apologize. "I-"

"In short, these are spying devices," Rockwell interrupted. "A far more efficient way to keep an eye on our adversaries without actually being there in person."

"Hmm." Tiger Claw put a hand to his chin. "I do not trust technology. Surely we are not relying solely on these-"

"The upgrades I gave your jetpack worked out for you?" Donnie asked. "And your blaster still shoots smoothly?"

Tiger Claw closed his mouth and crossed his arms. He gave a mere flick of his ear.

"So, where is everyone?" Raph asked.

Leo thought for a moment. "Slash, Leatherhead, and Rocksteady are trying to sort out their room situation. Mikey wandered off into the sewers with Bebop and Mondo… Don't worry, Rockwell's keeping tabs on them. I think Casey and Fishface are in the dojo?"

"Where's April?" Rahzar asked. Leo shrugged.

"She's working on something," Donnie told him.

"What?"

"I'm not sure. She didn't tell me but I think she's enhancing the interface on the-"

"Nevermind."

"Another day off work?" Tiger Claw asked Leo.

Leo shook his head. "I told Mikey, Bebop, and Mondo to do some scavenging, Casey and Fishface are training, that whole garage thing needed to be sorted out anyway… We were just waiting for you guys then we were going to go work on the base a bit."

Karai muttered something sharp under her breath. Tiger Claw's sharp ears didn't pick it up but Leo shot her a glare.

"I can work on your weapons a bit more if you'd like," Donnie offered. Before Tiger Claw could respond, Raph grabbed his younger brother by the shell.

"Nuh uh," he said. "You've spent too much time messing 'round with all this techy stuff. We're taking you do the dojo."

Donnie's face fell a bit.

"We're ninjas, Donnie," Leo told him. "We gotta get you and Mikey back into shape."

"But Mikey's not even here!" Donnie protested.

"I do not believe you would like him to be here," Rockwell said.

"Do you sense something? Is there something wrong?" Leo asked in sudden concern.

Rockwell grimaced. "... I suppose not but…"

"He's rolling around in the sewage isn't he?" Rahzar asked.

"How did you know?"

"Those three always smell like… I can't even describe it," Rahzar said. "But it's nasty."

Tiger Claw nodded in silent agreement. "Then it seems you three will have many training sessions without your youngest brother. Leonardo, a word please before you go off with your brothers?"

"Hai," Leo nodded and followed Tiger Claw out of the room, leaving the others to go and do as they please.

* * *

Rahzar stood under the hot stream of running water. He loved the heat. He'd been the designated mutant to go out into the freezing Antarctic lands each time Rockwell wanted to set up some equipment for years. Nothing was better than warmth.

Though it had a new meaning now. Gone were the chilled bones. Now were the days of the mystery liquid of the sewer clogging up his fur. He'd compained enough to Donnie that surely a solution to the problem was coming soon but in the meantime, he had to stick with giving himself a thorough cleaning each time he arrived back at the lair.

Deciding that he was clean enough, Rahzar shut off the water and dropped down to all fours in the shower. Thankfully it was large enough for him to do that. He began shaking his pelt like a dog, sending water everywhere. The curtain kept the water from getting all over the bathroom. He'd gotten enough earfulls over the years about wet dog water to know what not to do.

He grabbed a towel off the rack. Another problem that had to be fixed, there were thirteen mutants, two humans, and one person that could switch between the two using one bathroom. The lair was originally only intended for five people, that's why they'd been spending so much time working around it. They really had to build another bathroom or at the very least come up with some sort of system to distinguish the towels. His keen sense of smell helped him tell which one was his but he could also tell someone else had used it.

Rahzar gave himself another shake, this one not as wet, and draped the towel over his head and shoulders. They really needed to get some bigger towels too. This one couldn't even cover him, what did they do about Leatherhead? Though Rahzar doubted the massive mutant could even fit in the bathroom.

No longer dripping, Rahzar wandered out of the bathroom, unsure what to do. His muscles ached, he was tired, but he didn't really feel like sleeping. His limbs were filled with anxious energy, and he didn't know why.

Rahzar made his way towards his and Donnie's shared room. He could hear Donnie and Rockwell talking somewhere else in the lair so he had the room to himself for a change.

Rahzar paced around his room for a bit before his eyes fell upon the drawer where he kept all the journals. He briefly considered settling down to put in an entry then decided against it. He usually liked doing that at night, it was after sunrise right now. He was living with a ninja clan now and boy did they have weird sleep schedules.

Bored and not finding anything in his room, Rahzar walked out. He stood in the doorway for a few moments, glancing side to side, before deciding to see what April was up to. Her room was only a few steps away. Rahzar tapped his claws against the door. "April? You there?"

Not hearing a response, he poked his head in through the door curiously. He saw April sitting on her bed scrolling through some information on one of the lab's laptops, just as he'd seen many times before.

"You okay?"

April looked up at the sound of his voice. "Oh! I didn't hear you come in."

"What're you up to?" Rahzar asked, settling down next to her like a dog to look at the computer screen. He saw some sort of social media platform but he didn't recognize which one. He didn't use it much.

"I'm trying to figure some stuff out about my dad," April told him. "Just seeing how he's doing. I think he's doing all right. There's a picture of him here with a bunch of people, it seems like he's not so lonely without me there any more."

Rahzar was about to nod then froze, not knowing if that was the appropriate response. "Why don't you just see him in person?"

"Could you face your family in person?"

Rahzar's expression hardened.

"Oh right. Sorry," April apologized.

"Don't worry about it." Rahzar waved her off with a flick of his ear. "I'm just saying, you could probably do it. It's not like he'll recognize you or anything. It's been, like, forever."

"It's been three years," she reminded him.

"Oh right." Rahzar often forgot that April hadn't been with the mutants at the lab as long as he had. Three years was nothing compared to fourteen. "Put on some makeup or something."

April chuckled a bit. Rahzar didn't know what was funny but he didn't linger on it. He didn't understand girls much. He'd never spent much time with them. He often wondered if maybe that had something to with why April liked spending time with him so much, he didn't treat her the same way Donnie or Rockwell did. Not that they did anything wrong or anything, it was just different.

"I don't think makeup is going to stop my dad from recognizing me," April said.

"Then dye your hair."

"You think I should dye my hair?" she frowned.

"Of course not, I love your hair," Rahzar told her. He sat up. "I think you can buy temporary stuff."

"We don't have enough money for food let alone hair dye that I'm not even sure how to use," April said.

"Ask Karai. She lived out in the middle of nowhere for her whole life and she's got those blonde streaks, she probably knows how to make it."

"She told me that that's a side effect of her mutation."

"Oh. Want me to steal some for you?"

April smiled at him and rubbed his head. "I appreciate the offer but I don't want to turn you into a hardened criminal."

Now it was Rahzar's turn to laugh. At first it was just a chuckle but it eventually turned into an uncontrollable fit of laughter resulting in Rahzar rolling around on the floor that they two were sitting on.

"What's so funny?" April asked, sounding a bit concerned.

Rahzar sat back up and tried to get himself under control. He swallowed with a wolfish grin still plastered to his face. "Before Donnie came along, Rockwell and I didn't have a very good food source so we'd break into airports and rob the vending machines."

"That's what you got so cracked up about?" April questioned.

Rahzar shrugged. "It was funnier in my head. But for real, do you want me to steal some sort of disguise for you? You deserve to go see your dad. You didn't deserve this kind of life. You should be in a real school with humans and living with your dad in an apartment, not in a lab in Antarctica or a spot in the sewer with a bunch of mutants. You should have a life with friends and your family and maybe a b-"

Rahzar suddenly felt a hand on his jaw as April forced his head so that he was facing her. Yellow eyes met blue ones. Rahzar felt his heart rate speed up.

"Listen to me," April told him sharply. "Don't ever talk like that. I know this isn't the best life but I wouldn't trade it for the world. And don't think you deserve less than humans. You didn't deserve to spend half your life outside of society, walking around in blizzards and eating junk from vending machines just because you're a mutant."

Rahzar stared at her with wide eyes and nodded slowly. April suddenly pulled him closer and pressed her forehead against his and put the hand that had been on his jaw to his shoulder. He wasn't sure if this was a hug or what but he didn't try to move.

* * *

"What did you want to talk about?" Leo asked as he and Tiger Claw stepped out of the lair into the abandoned subway station. It was quiet for once. It was nice but at the same time sort of lonely. He was so used to being surrounded by loud bustling and having the air filled with such life that he didn't think he could go back to China if he tried.

"Your recent behavior," Tiger Claw responded. He didn't look at him. He just kept walking. Leo quickened his pace to keep up.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No, of course not. You are a good man," Tiger Claw told him. Leo nearly stopped in his tracks. Tiger Claw called him a man. That was weird.

"Is there something going on with you?"

"No."

"Then what's up?"

"You have a great responsibility, Leonardo," Tiger Claw said, finally stopping. He turned so he was standing directly in front of the turtle. He put a paw on his shoulder and looked at him dead in the eye. "You are leader of an entire clan at such a young age. And this is taking a great toll on you."

Leo shifted his gaze, becoming uncomfortable. He couldn't tell where this conversation was going.

"It is important to be a strong leader and protect your clanmates but you must remember you are young and inexperienced. You do not have to bear this burden alone."

"You want to be leader?" Leo questioned. To his surprise, Tiger Claw shook his head.

"I will be whatever you need me to be, my friend, but that is not what I am implying," Tiger Claw told him. "I am not of this clan by blood."

"You want me to spread my blood?" Leo said slowly, confused.

Tiger Claw sighed and shook his head again. He took his paw off his shoulder. "Yesterday, you gave three of your clanmates orders. They followed. They questioned, of course, but that is to be expected. You, however, questioned yourself and your clanmates."

"What do you mean?"

"While they were gone, you could think of nothing but their wellbeing. If you had the speed of my sister, the floor of the common room would have been worn away with all your pacing."

Leo tilted his head. He still could not see where this was going.

"It is clear that you are the one meant to lead this clan, Leonardo, but there is a great weight on your shoulders," Tiger Claw went on. "But this is an unnecessary weight."

"What do you mean?" Leo asked. He was a very patient turtle but if this kept up, he'd lose it before long.

"You do not trust your clanmates to take care of themselves," Tiger Claw told him. "They are fine and yet you worry. Stress is not good on the body nor the mind. You must learn to control your protective nature to be able to do your job."

Leo stared at him a moment, not really getting what his elder was saying. Sometimes Tiger Claw wasn't exactly clear. It took him a few moments to process everything that he said.

"I think I get it," Leo said slowly. "Earlier, when Rockwell said that something was going on with Mikey, I felt this feeling spread through my body. I've felt it before, I'm not sure when though."

Tiger Claw nodded. "Do you remember when you were just a boy and I taught you and your sist- er… Karai- to climb trees?"

Leonardo nodded then his eyes focused in realization. "I understand it now!"

Tiger Claw smiled. "Good."

"Just one thing though," Leo continued. "What was that thing about the blood and being alone and trusting and all that?"

"You must trust your clanmates," Tiger Claw started. "You gave them orders. No one can be completely certain of himself, especially in this case, I do not know how you learned of what you did, but you must trust that others can take care of themselves."

Leo shifted his gaze. He hadn't told Tiger Claw about talking with Master Splinter. It wouldn't be the end of the world since he knew Splinter had revealed himself in spirit to the entire clan weeks ago, but it wasn't a conversation he particularly wanted to have.

He did get what Tiger Claw was getting at though. He was over worrying about the others, he needed to learn to trust that they could handle themselves. He'd told Karai, Casey, and April to check out the warehouse complex. He knew that Karai could take care of the three of them on her own yet he still worried. That probably wasn't healthy for him or the clan.

Sensing that Leo understood, Tiger Claw went on. "What I meant by the blood was that you, Leonardo, and your brothers are the only members of this clan with Hamato blood. The four of you are a pillar of this clan above the rest of us."

"What?"

"You should share your responsibilities with your brothers," Tiger Claw simplified.

Leo shifted again. "I thought about that but I don't know if they can handle it. I mean, Donnie and Mikey aren't even really warriors and Raph has forgotten the ways of the ninja. He's warming up to the idea of practicing ninjutsu again but…"

"I did not say you had to do anything now," Tiger Claw told him. "Just think about it."


End file.
